Is Pixabay music safe for YouTube?

The licence

Pixabay's Content License lets you use its music for free, for commercial or non-commercial work, with no credit and with edits allowed. The main thing you cannot do is offer a track on its own, as a standalone file, without making something new with it. A Short with the track under your footage is a new work.

Tracks published before 9 January 2019 are under CC0 instead, which is the same in practice for a Short.

The catch

Pixabay music is uploaded by its users, and Pixabay does not check the rights for you. The terms say: "We do not warrant that any consents or licenses have been obtained in relation to any Content."

The common problem is not a stolen track. It is a track whose composer registered it with YouTube Content ID, directly or through a distributor. Pixabay's FAQ says composers do it to monitor where their music is used, to stop re-uploads, and to earn from it elsewhere while giving it away on Pixabay. Your use is allowed, and YouTube's system still claims the video.

How to spot a registered track

Registered tracks carry a shield icon and a "Content ID Registered" label on the track page, and the icon also shows in search results. Pixabay's guide warns that "not all contributors may flag their tracks for Content ID", so a track with no label is not a promise.

The cheap test is to upload the Short as private or unlisted first. YouTube Studio's Checks step shows a claim before anyone sees the video.

How to clear a claim

Pixabay gives two kinds of proof. A registered track has a licence certificate, a .txt file that logged-in users download from the track page's Download menu. Any other track has no certificate, so Pixabay says to keep the download link, the file name and the licence summary instead.

In YouTube Studio:

1. Go to Content, find the claimed video and click See details.
2. Click Dispute and choose "I have permission or a license to use the content".
3. In the message box, paste the certificate, or give the track title, the track's Pixabay URL, a link to the licence summary and a line on how the music is used.
4. Tick the statements and sign with your full name.

The claimant has up to 30 days to respond. If they reject the dispute, Pixabay's older guide says it costs you no strike, only the revenue. Think hard before appealing a second time (see the questions below).

The faster route can be the composer. Every track links to its uploader's Pixabay profile. Send them the video link and ask them to release the claim. Pixabay asks you not to use its Report Media tool for Content ID claims.

On Instagram and Facebook

Pixabay's FAQ says those platforms "also use automated detection systems that may mute or block content". Dispute with the same information you would give YouTube: the track link and the licence summary. If needed, ask the platform to contact Pixabay at info@pixabay.com to verify.

Is it worth the hassle?

For a channel that is not monetised yet, a standing claim costs you the ad revenue and nothing else. Pixabay says a claim "does not affect your channel standing". That changes for longer Shorts. YouTube blocks a Short over one minute with an active claim, so for those, pick a track without the shield or clear the claim before you publish.